I Want To Be There For You
by AshxUrsula 4EVER
Summary: Ursula is perceived by most as cocky and mean-spirited, but is she really that way inside? One boy, as dense as he is, doesn't think so. He has a different feeling about her; one that makes him only want to think of the good things about her. As persistent as he is, he wants to befriend her and learn the true nature of the girl with the peach ringlets. Mainly Outburstshipping.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or anything affiliated with it. I don't make any money from this fic and it was written only for fun and enjoyment, so please don't sue or send Arceus to kidnap me!**

* * *

**(A/N): I don't want to reveal too much information, but know that this will be an Outburstshipping (AshxUrsula) fanfic. Chapters after this one are expected to be longer, so expect a little time between updates. Characters may be slightly OOC at times, but I'm trying my best to prevent this. Your feedback is welcomed and appreciated.**

* * *

Prologue

* * *

"Time's up!" exclaimed the ever-so-energetic Sinnoh region contest announcer Marian.

The two pokemon coordinators, Dawn and Ursula quickly looked up at the scoreboard. Dawn had managed to win by a small number of points.

"And the Winner of the Labor Day Hearthome Contest is…Dawn!" yelled Marian excitedly. Dawn stood still for a second and then smiled brightly as she hugged her mamoswine and pachirisu. Ursula just stood there with a scowl on her face although there was a spark of sadness in her eyes at the same time.

"We won, and it's because of you! Thank you guys; you are just the greatest!" Dawn praised her Pokemon.

Ursula walked over to her disappointed gabite and flareon and spoke to them. "Don't listen to her you two. You two are the best and she just won by pure luck."

The crowd was cheering loudly for Dawn and her win and both Dawn and Ursula could hear Dawn's friends Ash, Zoey, Iris, Drew and May shouting words of praise and congratulations to Dawn. No one however was saying anything to Ursula.

"Awesome Dawn. Way to go!" shouted May.

"Indeed, what she said," agreed Drew.

"Yeah Dawn. You really know how to make your Pokemon shine!" called out Zoey.

"Not bad for a little kid," joked Iris, although deep down she was extremely awed by Dawn's performance.

"You really showed them Dawn; you're truly awesome!" exclaimed Ash. Dawn blushed a bit in response to Ash's compliment.

"Thanks a lot everyone!" Dawn said to everyone. "And Ursula, you were great too!" Ursula just scoffed at Dawn and stormed off the stage with her Pokemon. "Man, will she ever learn to be nice?! I never do anything to her yet she always insults me or something else," mumbled Dawn to herself.

"Geez, what a little kid," said Iris.

"I have to agree with you this time Iris. She needs to learn to be happy even when she loses," commented Zoey.

"Mmmm..." was the response of a certain raven-haired boy that was with the group in the audience commenting on Ursula's rude behavior. The others chalked up his light groan as him agreeing.

* * *

Ursula had finished changing back into some more casual clothes, made sure her peach-colored ringlets still looked good and was making her way to the entrance hall when she crashed into Dawn, who had also changed back into day-to-day attire.

"What the heck?! Oh, it's you Dee-dee," Ursula said while glaring at her long time contest rival.

"Well hello to you too Ursula, and my name is Dawn," she said, although a bit more politely.

"It's quite astounding how one can win so many contests by sheer luck and the strategy of making the time limit work for them," commented Ursula in a cocky manner.

"Look Ursula, I've beat you fair and square just like many other times before, so I don't know why you can't get that through that head of yours! Are those weird peach curls of yours blocking the path?" shouted Dawn angrily.

Ursula was mortified by her remark, but she held it in somewhat. "Grrr, just you wait until the next contest! I will avenge those losses and beat you so easily, you'll wish you never became a coordinator!" she screamed, and with that she stormed off once again.

Dawn stood there shocked, but not really offended. After a minute she felt that maybe she went overboard with her last remark. She knew Ursula was very proud of the way she did her hair, although she wasn't so sure why.

Ursula had finally left the building and was walking rather quickly to the bus stop to get her ride back home. She looked at her pretty pink poketch and the time read 5:15pm. It was fifteen minutes before the bus would arrive. There was currently no one else at the bus stop, so she sat on the empty bench.

After beginning to cool off from her moment of anger, she started to reflect back on when all of Dawn's friends were cheering for her when she won. She had been up against Dawn in five contests now and lost to her each time. Even though Dawn had only recently been able to defeat Zoey, she would watch all of Dawn's performances and give her props or constructive criticism when needed. There was also May, who was also a coordinator in her own rights. She was a loyal friend of Dawn and the two were hanging out every day, whether at the mall or elsewhere. Iris and Drew moved into Sinnoh just a few months ago, but they were close friends with Dawn as well. Finally, there was Ash. He always seemed to be the most thrilled whenever Dawn achieved something great.

Ursula blushed slightly upon thinking about Ash, but when she thought about how close Ash and Dawn were, she felt both jealousy and a bit of sadness. The two often seemed like they were flirting and although Ash always seemed to not have a clue, Ursula knew from eavesdropping that Ash was a bit dense when it came to romance, as well as several other things.

For the next few minutes, she thought about when Ash was so exuberant about Dawn's win and then the moment when Dawn made that remark after she said her win was luck rather than skill. Dawn had never made that kind of remark before. Ursula couldn't help but feel hurt about it because her hairstyle was actually her deceased grandmother's idea. She wore those pigtails every day since she was four, even when she was home all day. Her grandmother had actually died just two weeks ago.

Her train of thought was interrupted upon someone sitting down on the bench "almost" next to her. She looked at him briefly and knowing who it was, she refocused forward, although she was now slightly nervous. There were just five minutes now before the bus came.

Ash decided to break the silence. "Hi. It's Ursula right?"

Ursula looked at him again, slightly confused as to why he was talking to her, but she decided not to be rude. "Yeah, I'm Ursula. You're Ash right?"

"That's me," Ash said confidently, although he himself had a few butterflies in his stomach. Ursula couldn't help but feel a little bit uneasy after seeing Ash's smile.

"So, are you heading back to Twinleaf Town? You live there now right?" asked Ursula.

"Yes. My friend and rival Barry and his mom had to relocate to Veilstone City for Barry's mom to keep her job and my mom got a great deal on the property," explained Ash. He was a bit surprised that Ursula was acting so well-mannered in front of him, but he left it be. He didn't want to start any trouble he didn't need.

"There you are Ash," called two female voices. Ash and Ursula looked to see that Dawn and May had arrived and seated themselves on the other bench. Ash got up from where he was and sat with his two best friends. Ursula looked at Ash and the two girls chatting about the contest and felt left out. She gave Dawn a glare, but Dawn didn't notice.

* * *

Although the bus arrived ten minutes late, it arrived nonetheless. Ash, Dawn, and May all sat near the front while Ursula sat in the far back. The ride was fairly quiet with the exception of occasional conversation between Dawn and May about shopping and the start of the school year. May was sneaking bites of potato chips every now and then, but eventually the driver caught her and told her that eating was not allowed on the bus. She obliged, but was clearly angry about it and didn't say anything for the next several minutes. Ash, Dawn, and even Ursula all chuckled to themselves at May's misfortune. Luckily May didn't notice.

The bus arrived in Jubilife City, where Ursula would disembark. She walked down the pathway with eyes straight ahead. Dawn kept her head turned while May was focused on trying to sneak more potato chips, but Ash took a few seconds to watch her go. His face showed a light blush, but he looked slightly concerned as Ursula appeared rather upset.

May got off the bus at her stop in Sandgem Town after saying goodbye to her two good friends and Ash and Dawn got off at their respective stops in Twinleaf Town. They said their goodbyes and Ash walked in to his new house where a happy Delia greeted him.

"Hey Ash Sweetie!" greeted Delia. "I've got a surprise for you! It's your favorite pizza for dinner tonight!"

"Awesome! Thanks Mom!" exclaimed Ash. He gulped down his first slice and then his mom asked him how his day was.

"It was great Mom. Dawn won her contest and she now has almost 10 ribbons," Ash said.

"I saw. Johanna called right away and she was absolutely ecstatic. I heard it was quite the battle. It seems she is often up against that Ursula girl," said Delia.

Upon hearing Ursula's name, Ash blushed slightly, but then he began to feel a slight mixture of sympathy for Ursula as well as for some reason a bit of guilt. Ash began to eat much more slowly and Delia took notice of this.

"Is everything okay Ash?" asked Delia with slight concern.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. I guess I'm just not as hungry as I thought," explained Ash. Delia decided to not worry about it. Let's leave the worrying to Johanna shall we?

* * *

Back over in Jubilife City, Ursula had gotten to her house. It was a fairly expensive house and it had four bedrooms and three bathrooms. It also had a dining room with a cherry wood table and the living room had two leather sofas. Her family was quite well off, but the problem was they were almost never home. They were both major business people for a company located in Veilstone City. Once again they weren't home, but there was a note for Ursula that said they would be back around 9pm. Ursula scoffed at the note because they were almost never home when they said they were going to be which was due usually to working extra late. Her parents didn't tell her what to eat for dinner, so she just decided to eat some leftover steak and potatoes that were put in the fridge from last night.

She ate about half of her dinner and threw the rest away because she was not hungry. She retreated to her room where she turned on the TV and saw a replay of her and Dawn in the final round of the contest. She quickly changed the channel and the next channel was a game show where two families had a blast answering trivia questions in the hopes of getting enough points to move to the final round and win up to 20,000 poke-dollars.

Ursula growled in frustration, turned the TV off, and threw the remote across the room. She decided to change into her pajamas and just call it a night. She then lied down and thoughts of her at the bus stop came up. She thought about that moment where she and Ash got a whole forty seconds to talk before he left to go sit with his friends.

She shut her eyes tightly trying to just fall asleep and she managed to do that after about an hour. Until finally falling asleep, she was thinking about those forty seconds of talking to Ash and how the moment was interrupted by her little-miss-perfect rival. She felt jealous, a bit sad, and even wanted to cry for a moment there.

Why was she so upset about that one particular moment? Why would she nearly cry over something as small as an interrupted moment talking to a boy?

It was going to be a rather interesting year for her.

* * *

**And we are set here for now. I hope you've enjoyed this so far. Thanks for reading everyone!**


	2. Going To School

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or anything affiliated with it. I make no money from this fic and it was written only for fun and enjoyment, so please don't sue or send Arceus to kidnap me!**

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**(A/N): Hello everyone. I'm glad to see my story is getting good results so far. Over the last several days, everything for my next chapter had seemed to just be spilling out of my brain. Perhaps it's how motivated I am to continue with this thing. Here's my first "official" chapter, all set to go. Enjoy!**

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The First Day of Term

* * *

_Ash's House…_

It was now 5:45am in the quiet, yet beautiful neighborhood of Twinleaf Town. Ash was fast asleep and looking quite comfortable, although like Ursula, it took him a little time to fall asleep. Although he couldn't figure out why, he had spent some time last night thinking about how upset Ursula looked when she was leaving the bus. He felt kind of bad, like perhaps he had done something to upset her. Those thoughts would vanish for a little while though when his alarm rang to wake him up for school.

His alarm began to beep, and the beeping progressively grew louder the longer it was before he turned it off. It had finally gotten so loud that Delia barged into the room to shut it off herself.

"Seriously Ash! You know I don't really appreciate always having to come up here just because you don't want to get up!" yelled Delia.

"Ugh…sorry Mom," Ash said weakly. Delia rolled her eyes. She knew Ash was up later than he was supposed to be, but she still couldn't allow him to miss school.

"Well, don't let this happen again please. I had to come up here every morning to get you up for school last year," Delia said.

"Yes Mom," Ash replied, annoyed with the fact that it was the start of the school year. He was no longer thinking about Ursula, only another year of boring things like Math and History. He did, however look forward to Pokemon Mythology with his friends.

_Dawn's House…_

While Ash may have been sleeping through his alarm going off, Dawn was up a half-hour earlier and had spent about fifteen minutes trying to make sure her hair was "perfect". Unlike Ash, she was thrilled for the start of the year. This would be her freshman year. She was an A's and B's student who wanted to make her mom happy. She would be on the cheerleading squad this year and the only thing she didn't look forward to was potentially being picked on by Ursula.

"Dawn, are you up?" asked Johanna sweetly.

"As up as I could be. Good morning Mom," replied Dawn. She was already just about set to go.

"You look happy. Are you looking forward to your first day of high school?" Johanna asked.

Dawn nodded and said, "It may not be going on an adventure with my Pokemon, but nonetheless it will be a blast."

"I see on your schedule that you signed up for Pokemon Mythology. Have your adventures caused you to develop this new interest?" asked Johanna curiously.

"It sure has!" answered Dawn. "My friends Zoey and May are taking it as well!"

"Did I hear someone say my name?" called out a girl with shorter red hair who was two years older than Dawn. She had come over briefly to show Johanna her new car.

"Zoey!" cried out Dawn and Johanna in unison.

"It's nice to see you again Zoey," said Johanna. "How's your Glameow doing?"

Johanna knew Zoey could perform amazing contest tricks using Glameow's tail and they both would practice together during summer break.

"She's doing great," replied Zoey.

"Congratulations on getting your license Zoey," said Dawn.

"Thanks Dawn. If it wasn't for the prize money that I saved from my last Grand Festival win, who knows when I'd be on the road!" said Zoey.

Dawn was very happy for Zoey and looked forward to the day she would be driving herself. Dawn had finally become a top coordinator herself and Johanna told her to save her prize money so she could buy her own car.

Both Ash and Dawn were lucky to have such great parents and friends.

_Ursula's House…_

Ursula woke up to the sound of her alarm playing her favorite song. Despite not having a full night of sleep, she felt pretty awake and was actually in a somewhat decent mood. That joy wouldn't last long though. She went into the kitchen and saw that her parents weren't there, so she went to their room, and then to the living room. They were nowhere to be found. She went to where the phone was and there was a voicemail.

"Hi Ursula. We had to stay until midnight to finish up company paperwork and are staying at Veilstone Resorts for the night. We're sure you'll be okay alone tonight. Have a good night! Bye!" the voicemail said quickly.

This wasn't something Ursula wasn't used to, but upon hearing this, she felt upset again, this time with her parents. They didn't even bother to acknowledge that this was the first day of the school year.

Again, she would have to find herself something to eat. "Well, at least my mom always leaves a bunch of cash here, so I suppose I can get something when I get to school," she thought.

After grabbing ten poke-dollars, she went back to her room to get ready for school. She fixed her hair, making her trademark pigtails and picked up her schedule. During her last period, she would be taking piano. No one, not even her parents knew about her interest and skill in piano, but since she had no friends, and her parents were never home, how would anyone?

Being well off, her house was located in a nice area surrounded by trees and different berry plants. There weren't many other houses in the area, so there was plenty of privacy. She stepped out of the house and looked at the empty spaces where her parents parked their cars and walked over to where she would get the bus for school. She saw down the road three teenagers who were also waiting for the bus who looked like they were all best friends. Ursula's mood dropped lower as she sighed and sat on the little bench that was at the stop. She looked over her schedule again pretending not to care.

* * *

Back over in Twinleaf Town, Ash and Dawn were both waiting for the bus to come. Dawn was happily going over her schedule while Ash was leaning forward, resting his chin on his hands. He had a mixture of tiredness and boredom on his face.

"Now don't go falling asleep on me there Ashy," Dawn said playfully.

"I bet in less than five minutes after boarding that bus, I will be out and gone for the rest of the day," replied Ash flatly, failing to notice Dawn giggling.

"Well, geez Ash. I know schoolwork isn't always fun, but lighten up!" Dawn said, even though she thought it was cute when Ash was zoned out.

"I'm too weak to go to school Dawn. I only slept for seven hours last night," Ash said.

"Ooh, something was keeping Ash from falling asleep right away! What was it?" Dawn asked, hoping it had to do with her.

"To be honest, I don't really remember. All I remember is that I felt kind of bad," Ash answered. He still couldn't remember why he felt bad, but he himself was surprised that it had kept him up for a little bit.

"Oh," replied Dawn, slightly disappointed. She then heard the sound of an engine and saw the bright yellow school bus coming; orange lights flashing in sync, followed by red ones.

Seeing the bus, her mood brightened up again. "All right Ashy, time to go," Dawn told Ash, hoping to push his buttons slightly. Ash just groaned and followed Dawn on board.

* * *

Dawn sat in row three on the left while Ash decided to sit in row six on the left. The bus got to Sandgem Town after picking up one sophomore and then picked up May. She sat in row three on the right and immediately swapped schedules with Dawn so they could see what each other had.

The bus then proceeded through Route 202 and arrived in Jubilife City. Ash surprisingly hadn't fallen asleep yet. The bus stopped at the place where the three teenagers that Ursula saw were. He looked at them boarding the bus and then looked further ahead. Once the bus arrived at Ursula's place, she put her schedule in her bag and boarded the bus. After she entered the bus, Ash's heart skipped a beat. Ursula walked by Ash and Ash saw that she didn't look too happy. Ursula sat down in row eight on the right and focused her gaze out the window.

After a moment, Ash remembered last night that Ursula looked upset when she left the travel bus the night before. He then tried to figure out why she might have been upset in the first place. He eventually thought of when the two were beginning to chat after Dawn's contest. Suddenly, to his surprise it became clear. He looked at her again and blushed slightly at the sight of her. He remembered that this girl had a reputation for being over-confident and often snobby, but he felt something else. She seemed very nice when she was talking to him and he decided that he needed to get to know her better. Perhaps she wasn't so bad.

The school bus arrived at the high school, located in Eastern Oreburgh City, after picking up Drew, Iris, and a few other teenagers. The group of adventurous Pokemon friends left the bus and walked over to the cafeteria. There were about fifteen minutes before classes started and Ash and May were eager for some food.

Ash and May got what they wanted and went to a table that had just enough chairs for everyone. Ash sat between Dawn and Iris while May sat next to Drew on the other side. May liked Drew, but not as a potential boyfriend, even though Drew had asked her out several times. Drew still thought he had a chance with her and he was not letting rejection get the better of him.

"Well, it looks like I have the same gym class as Iris and Dawn," said May.

"Don't forget, you and I, along with Zoey have Pokemon Mythology during sixth period," said Dawn.

"Hey! I have it the same time as well," Ash said almost excitedly. His mood was set back to boredom though when the others began talking about who had which academic course and when. He looked out the window, but then blushed slightly after he saw that Ursula was walking by. She was going over to a bench that was located near the cafeteria's back entrance.

With ten minutes left before classes began, he decided he wanted to go say hello. "Um, guys? I think I'm going to step outside for a little fresh air," Ash said, not wanting the others to know what he was really doing.

"Uh, okay," replied Dawn, somewhat confused.

"Sure thing," the others replied.

Ash got his things and left the cafeteria through the back entrance. "I wonder why he didn't want to sit with us anymore," asked Dawn.

"No idea," replied Iris, though not as surprised.

* * *

Ash exited the cafeteria and slowly started to walk to where Ursula was. He was feeling quite nervous actually. First, because he knew Ursula may be mad at him and second…well, to be honest he wasn't exactly sure. It was just some kind of feeling.

Ursula was just sitting still watching other students walking by and giggling under her breath when she saw an outfit that looked ugly to her. She began to hear slow footsteps that seemed to be approaching where she was. She looked to her right and saw Ash coming…and looking at her. She began to feel a bit nervous herself. She looked away and then looked at him again when he called her name.

"Hi Ursula," greeted Ash.

"Oh, uh…Hey Ash," she managed to utter out. "What brings you over here?"

"I just thought I'd come and say hello," answered Ash calmly.

Ursula was actually taken aback by this. She hadn't had anyone come say hello in over a year, never mind Ash. She did remember the instance where Ash quickly left her and was a bit upset with Ash still for it, but she couldn't manage to get angry at him for some reason. She actually felt…happy that Ash had come to see her.

"Well…w-would you like to sit down?" asked Ursula somewhat nervously.

"Sure," answered Ash, and with that she scooted over to the left so Ash could sit.

Ash was surprised that Ursula didn't snap at him or something, but he was grateful also. Some people always thought of her as a snob and Ash knew that her and his crew didn't get along well. He was curious as to why she would act so nice around him. For now though, he would just like to maintain the peace between them.

Ash didn't know what to talk about to someone like Ursula, so he decided to just ask her about her schedule.

"I have Algebra first," said Ursula.

"I have Tutorial first. My mom insisted that I take it to help get my grades up," Ash said slightly embarrassed. Ursula giggled at this, not because of the class he was taking, but rather because of the look on his face. She thought it was kind of cute.

"Oh, look. We have European history together fourth period," said Ursula.

"Well, it looks like we do," replied Ash. He actually was smiling at this fact and Ursula felt uneasy after seeing his smile, just like the night before.

The two have been talking for only a couple of minutes, but Ash and Ursula were already getting along okay. Unfortunately though, it was now time to go to class.

"Class time! Let's go please!" shouted the assistant principal over the intercom. "Go, go, go, go, go!"

Ash and Ursula got their things together, but they were both a tad disappointed that they had to go to class now. They were enjoying each other's company.

"Well, I guess I'd better be off. Man, I'm not looking forward to academics again," Ash said glumly.

"I guess so. See you later," replied Ursula.

* * *

Ursula was on her way to her first class when she spotted Dawn coming from the other direction. Her happy train of thought instantly shifted to the thought of when Dawn insulted her hairstyle shortly after the contest. Her eyes narrowed as Dawn got closer. Once they were both at the door, they were both glaring at each other and the other students could feel the tension between them. One student shouted "Catfight!" The Algebra teacher heard this and rushed to make sure everything was under control.

"I hope this isn't what it looks like!" the teacher yelled.

Ursula looked unfazed. "Dawn may be a foe of mine, but I had no intention of hitting her. Whether or not she would stoop low enough to hit me is another matter," she said.

"That's enough! Everyone come in now. This is Algebra class, not Insults class," the teacher said angrily.

After four periods went by, it was lunchtime. This was the one time, other than sixth period that Ash looked forward too. Ash and May had gotten themselves lunches twice the size of what their other friends had. The group met at the same table they met at during the morning and everyone sat in the same seats as before. While May had the manners to eat at a normal pace, Ash wasn't quite the same way. After five minutes, he was two-thirds of the way finished.

"Ash, you really need to learn to eat slower," commented Iris.

"No way! I haven't eaten in hours and this is surprisingly good," said Ash.

"You're literally getting mashed potatoes on my shirt. You're such a kid sometimes!" Iris yelled while wiping her sleeve with a napkin. Ash stopped for a quick second, but then resumed eating at his regular pace.

"Sometimes?" asked Dawn jokingly.

"Well, when we were traveling in Unova, he would get aggravated about me calling him a kid. I've finally got fed up with his outbursts, so that's why I said 'Sometimes'," explained Iris.

"Hey Dawn?" May spoke up.

"What's up May?" she replied.

"What was happening in the hallway when that kid shouted 'Catfight'?" asked May.

"No fight actually broke out, but that kid thought me and Ursula were going to fight," answered Dawn glumly. Ash began to eat a little bit slower, trying to listen in. Dawn continued her rant. "She made a remark that implied that she thought I might hit her. I would never be that cruel and it hurts to think that she would believe that I would. She said it in a manner that made me look like the bully when it is really her who is the bully!"

Ash was going to say something, but that would mean everyone found out he was socializing with Ursula. He wasn't ready for the drama right now, even if he was just making small talk with her. The dull old school day still wasn't over.

"Man, that Ursula," said Drew.

"Well, don't worry about her! We know that you are a sweet person and you have friends that care about you," May told Dawn sweetly.

"I know. Thanks May. I just don't get why she acts the way she does," said Dawn.

* * *

Moving ahead to sixth period, May, Dawn, Ash, and Zoey had all arrived in Professor Rowan's classroom for Pokemon Mythology.

"Hello Class," said Professor Rowan. After going over the class syllabus, Rowan spoke of a project that they would be completing over the first quarter.

"For this project, you will choose a legendary Pokemon of your choice and write a four or five page research report about it and on why that Pokemon is legendary. This Pokemon can be from any region. You will be expected to use at least five credible sources for your paper and this project is due on October 24th. This project will count for thirty percent of your overall grade," explained Rowan. Most of the class groaned, not because of the project itself, but because of how much pressure was placed on them to do it well.

Dawn, May, Zoey, and even Ash were feeling confident about the project. They all had direct communication with legendary Pokemon. Zoey was an exception, but she was a student that everyone else envied when it came to grades. The group was confident that they could each create good work on their own, but due to the ties of good friendship, they knew they would wind up working together. They would write their reports on different Pokemon though.

The bell rang after a few more minutes and as everyone was about to leave, Rowan spoke up. "As you are leaving, please come to my desk and pick up a copy of this permission slip. On Monday, we will be taking a field trip to Eterna City, along with my second period class to view a pair of statues of Pokemon that we will be studying in this class." Everyone did what they were asked and then proceeded to their final classes.

* * *

The bus ride back home was not as quiet as the morning one. Many students were chatting about their new teachers and many of them already looked ready for the year to end. Dawn and May were both getting rides home from Zoey, so there were just Drew and Iris. They both lived close to the school, so they left the bus pretty quickly. With all of his friends off the bus, Ash took a look around at those who were still on board. He saw Ursula sitting in the same spot as she was during the morning ride.

He blushed a bit upon seeing her and since none of his friends were on the bus, he felt like going to sit closer to her. Unfortunately, she had a look on her face that made her seem like she didn't want to be bothered. Ursula noticed Ash looking at her and made a small wave.

Although it wasn't really the case, Ash still believed she didn't want to talk to anyone. He just waved back quickly and sat back down, mild disappointment now setting his mood.

After a couple of seconds, Ursula turned her head back toward the window. She felt slightly upset that Ash didn't come closer.

After the bus dropped Ursula off at her house, she went inside and to her surprise, her mom was inside. "Oh, hi Ursula. We just got home a little more than an hour ago, but we have to leave again now. We have to fix some accounting transactions that our bookkeeper screwed up. Take care," her mom said.

"Mom, Wait!" Ursula shouted, but she was already out the door. Ursula grabbed her permission slip and ran out the door, but by then the car was already beginning to drive away. Ursula growled loudly in frustration. She was really looking forward to the field trip. Since she knew Ash had always been on adventures where he encountered legendary Pokemon, Ursula had begun to become interested in the subject herself, thus signing up for Rowan's second period class.

Ursula walked slowly back to her room and went to a special side room that was there. At the end of the room was a grand piano. She sat on the seat and began reflecting back on her day. It had started off a bit rough and ended a bit rough, but that time when she was talking to Ash, she felt a sense of happiness and joy that she had not felt in…possibly her whole life. With that she played a series of tunes that expressed how she felt throughout the day; in respective order to when she felt them.

* * *

**And that is it for a little while. Hopefully I did well here. Now I feel some of you may wonder why I would give Ursula a talent like piano. I don't know if it will still be an interest to her later, but outside of the public eye, at least in my story, she will have talents in which nobody in the story will know about for a while. View my profile for more info. Hope you enjoyed!**


	3. Field Trip

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or anything affiliated with it. I don't make any money from this fic and it was written only for fun and enjoyment, so please don't sue or send Arceus to kidnap me!**

**(A/N) Two things important to point out. First, the last part of my summary has changed to better fit the aims of my story. Second, I changed my penname to show more of my dedication to the AshxUrsula pairing. Aside from that, I apologize for not updating sooner, but I am ready now, so let's roll!**

* * *

_Ursula's House…_

The first week of school had finished up, and it had been a fairly stressful weekend for Ursula. Being in an advanced English class meant a lot more homework, as well as more pressure for her to perform well. On top of that, both of her electric-type pokemon, plusle and minun had both come down with electrical build-up and were in bad shape.

The majority of the weekend was spent alone trying to handle both her schooling, as well as caring for her sick pokemon. As usual, her parents were virtually never home and she didn't have any friends whom she could turn to for help, so she had to do everything herself. She did have easy access to oran berries though, and she could afford the necessary equipment to cure her plusle and minun.

By the very end of the day on Sunday, she had managed to finish up her homework, and her two electric pokemon were feeling relatively okay. She was ready to call it a night, but before she went to bed, she had one more thing she wanted to do. It would be a way for her to go on the Eterna City field trip, even though she was never able to ask her parents to sign her permission slip. She was good at this kind of thing to boot.

_Dawn's House…_

At the Hikari household, Dawn had woken up a half-hour earlier than usual. She, as well as everyone else going on the field trip were required to arrive at school at seven-thirty in the morning. Dawn was in the process of packing for the day and while she was doing so, she took a look at the permission slip. The field trip required her to bring a lunch as the classes would be having a picnic lunch outside.

She freaked out upon reading this because she forgot to look over the details of the field trip beforehand. Zoey had joined her and Johanna for breakfast and she was going to be driving Dawn to the school. She was already waiting in her car. Johanna walked into the kitchen and sweatdropped at seeing Dawn frantically trying to make a sandwich.

"Dawn, you didn't forget to read over the permission slip did you?" asked Johanna while rubbing her forehead.

"Um, well…you see," Dawn uttered out.

Johanna sighed. "Here, let me help you out," she said. She quickly made two of Dawn's favorite kind of sandwiches and sent her out to catch up with Zoey, who was now honking her car horn.

"Bye Mom. See you this evening!" Dawn called out as she was running to meet Zoey.

"Take care, and don't forget to actually turn in the permission slip," said Johanna jokingly.

"No need to worry Mom," Dawn replied.

Johanna sighed again. "Even at your age, when you tell me not to worry, that's when I worry the most," she said to herself as her glameow jumped up onto the patio chair and fell asleep.

* * *

Courtesy of Dawn's failure to get ready properly, she and Zoey had arrived just as the two buses were getting ready to leave. Fortunately, they were both just in time to go on the trip. Dawn proceeded to the underclassman bus while Zoey went to the upperclassman one.

"Ah, Dawn. You're late," Professor Rowan said gruffly.

"Eh, sorry," Dawn said slightly nervous. "I've got my permission slip though."

"Well that's good. You may enter," Rowan said as he took the permission slip.

Dawn boarded the heavily crowded bus and began looking for an empty seat. She had also forgotten that the second period class was taking this trip as well. She walked past Ash, who was asleep with his head turned toward the window. He was already sitting next to a girl who was heavily focused on a texting conversation on her cell phone. She walked past May and Iris, who were sharing a seat. She even found out Drew was already sitting next to someone as well.

She finally found an empty seat near the far back end of the bus and sat there. She sighed a breath of relief, however she turned her head to the right and frowned when she saw that she was sitting to no one other than Ursula. Ursula didn't look happy at Dawn's arrival and gave her a glare before turning her head toward the window.

As it was early in the morning, many of the students on the bus were quiet and/or asleep. For the first thirty minutes, Dawn and Ursula were both silent with Ursula trying her best to keep from looking at Dawn. Dawn, however was occasionally taking glances at Ursula. Ursula always showed no sign that she wanted to talk to her.

It was true that Dawn wasn't happy about having to sit next to Ursula, but being ignored like this never made Dawn feel good. She was the type who loved socializing and being friendly. As such, she decided to try to start a conversation with Ursula.

"Hey, Ursula," Dawn said in a friendly manner.

Ursula turned to face Dawn, but with an unfriendly expression on her face. "What do you want, Deedee?" Ursula asked.

Dawn flinched slightly at her tone, but she continued. "I just want to chat," she answered.

"Oh?" Ursula said. "Well, I suppose even you can have a little conversation every now and then."

Dawn ignored the sarcasm and continued on. "So, you became interested in Pokemon Mythology huh?" she asked.

Ursula knew that she was taking the class because she knew Ash traveled with her and encountered the legendary pokemon of the Sinnoh region, but she wasn't willing to tell her that. Instead, she was silent for a few seconds before answering. "Well, even I can become interested in the legends of our world," was all she would say.

"I see," Dawn said, slightly annoyed at Ursula's reluctance to share. "Well, what other classes are you taking? Mind if I take a look at your schedule?"

Ursula crossed her arms. "Um, no," she answered with her usual cocky grin. "But I will say that my English class is of a higher level. What about you?"

"I may be a grade younger than you, but some of my classes are of a higher level too," Dawn said happily. "I'm looking forward to this year!"

"Hmph. Now that you mention it, I'm pretty excited as well. I sense a new chance to prove what I'm capable of," Ursula said confidently.

"Confident as can be," Dawn commented.

"That's right. But before you get too excited, I think it is fair for me to tell you that I don't feel you can handle such classes," Ursula said.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked beginning to get angry.

"Well, for starters, I'm going to do much better in my classes than you'll do in yours," Ursula replied. "And in addition, you're hardly capable of getting through high school at all."

Dawn was dumbfounded. "Hey look! During my pokemon journey through Sinnoh, I proved to you just how good I can be at what I do, pokemon-related or not. How dare you say that!" she yelled.

Many of the other students were now looking toward the back of the bus to see what the commotion was about.

"Oh, keep talking Deedee. You're just making yourself look bad," Ursula said calmly.

"Well, you know what…," Dawn started, but was cut off by the bus driver speaking to her over the intercom.

"Ms. Hikari! Please lower your voice and calm down!" the driver commanded.

The other students refocused forward and resumed what they were doing. A few of them giggled at Dawn as well. Ursula became silent again and Dawn was just sitting there with her arms crossed and looking at the floor. She was hurt by Ursula's words and overall, very angry. No matter what she did, Ursula would always put her down or rile her up somehow. She always tried to be nice, but always to no avail. After a moment, she finally decided that if this is how it was going to be, she was going to get back at her somehow.

* * *

At about ten in the morning, the bus arrived in Eastern Eterna City, where the two legendary pokemon statues were located. There was also a small library nearby that had information on the pokemon as well as on other Sinnoh legends and history.

The crowd of students was split into three groups. Professor Rowan took the entire second period class because it was a smaller class while his two assistants each took half of the sixth period class. Ash and Dawn were in the first assistant's group and they first went to the library.

"So class, this is the newly built Eterna Library," the assistant started off. "Here, you can find much information on the Sinnoh region, as well as on the various legends of Sinnoh.

The group walked over to the librarian's desk. "Greetings everyone!" the librarian said. "Welcome to our new library. We're very excited to have finally completed this project and look forward to expanding this library to include resources and information concerning other regions as well. Currently, we have a few resources for researching the legendary pokemon of Unova. If you have any questions, or to obtain a library card, please see me."

"Class, Professor Rowan has asked me to tell you that he recommends the resources of this library as a research outlet for completing your reports if you choose to do it on a Sinnoh or Unova legendary pokemon," the assistant said happily.

As the group continued its tour of the library, Ash took notice that Dawn appeared to be a bit down. "Hey Dawn. Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Dawn started. "It's just once again having to put up with Ursula and her hatred toward me."

Ash was surprised to hear this. "Ursula is here?" he asked.

"Yes she is. I'm quite surprised too," answered Dawn.

* * *

While Ash and Dawn's group was touring the library, the second period students were being shown the dialga and palkia statues. Professor Rowan was busy talking about what the pokemon were known for while Ursula was staring at the dialga statue as it was her favorite. As Rowan continued to speak, she was thinking about when she was younger. She had already knew a fair amount about the legends of Sinnoh.

When she was alive, her grandmother would tell her stories, whether or not they were actually true primarily as bedtime stories. Listening to Rowan speak about the pokemon reminded of her of these times and she was not far from tears as she listened. She knew she would do her report on a Sinnoh legendary, but she wasn't sure which one she wanted to do at the moment. Right now, she was experiencing a case of nostalgia.

After an hour and a half, the main part of the day was completed and the classes were getting ready for their picnic lunch. It was unknown where Dawn, May, and Zoey were at the time, but Ash and Ursula both went to the library to obtain library cards.

"Why hello Ash," Ursula said as she walked away from the librarian's desk.

"Hey Ursula," Ash replied, walking closer to her. "I didn't think you'd be going on this trip."

"Hey! Can't a girl be interested in the legends and mysteries of our world?" Ursula said with her hands on her hips.

"No, no! I mean I just thought you wouldn't be interested in this sort of thing," Ash replied quickly and nervously.

"Whoa, whoa Ash. I'm just playing with you," Ursula said while trying to suppress a laugh.

"Oh. Heh, right," Ash said with slight embarrassment.

Rowan was near the library entrance and noticed Ash and Ursula talking. "All right you two, come on now. It's time for the picnic lunch," he commanded.

"We're coming!" Ursula said enthusiastically. The two then left the library and were about to separate.

A thought was beginning to run through Ash's head as he was walking away, but he was having mixed feelings about it. He looked back toward Ursula and watched as she was getting ready to eat alone at the side of the palkia statue. Ash was thinking about seeing if she wanted to have lunch with him, but he was worried about his friends possibly seeing him. After a moment, he decided, being the natural risk taker that he is, to go and sit with her.

Ursula was silently eating her favorite sandwich when a shadow cast over the space in front of her. She looked up and saw Ash looking at her and smiling. She began to feel slightly uneasy, but at the same time, she was beginning to feel something good as well.

"Hi again Ursula," Ash said.

"Hey Ash. What's up?" she asked.

"I saw you alone over here and thought you'd might like some company," explained Ash.

"Oh…s-sure. You can sit with me," Ursula replied. Ash sat across from her and the two were relaxing peacefully eating their lunches and talking about which pokemon were their favorites.

* * *

Back over closer to the library, Dawn, May, and Zoey were together eating their lunches. "Dawn and May," Zoey said with an idea. "You know what I'm thinking? I think it would be a good idea to do our reports on pokemon that are not native to the regions in which we are originally from as a challenge."

"Excellent idea Zoey," May said.

"I agree," Dawn responded. "I was thinking about doing my report on a pokemon from the Kanto region."

"I'll probably do a Sinnoh legendary," May said.

"As for me, I think I want to study a pokemon from the Unova region," Zoey said.

"Knowing Ash, he'll probably take a long, long time to decide which one he wants to do," suggested May.

"You know what, I haven't seen Ash for a while. I wonder where he is," Zoey said.

Dawn began looking all around where she was sitting. "That's weird. I don't see him anywhere," she said confused. "I'm going to go look for him."

"Do you want me to come with you?" asked May.

"Mmmm…I think I'm going to go alone," she answered.

"Oh, okay," May said, slightly disappointed.

Dawn spent about five minutes looking around trying to find Ash. She went away from the crowd of students that were gathered in the grassy area and she was walking toward the pokemon statues. As she got closer, she began to hear two voices that seemed to be in conversation with each other. "Gee, those voices sure sound familiar," she said to herself.

When she was in front of the palkia statue, she realized that the two voices belonged to Ash and Ursula. She was unpleasantly surprised at this. She peeked around the corner, trying not to be spotted while listening in on Ash and Ursula's conversation.

"So wait, if you couldn't get your parents to sign your permission slip, how did you manage to come?" Ash asked Ursula.

Ursula began to stutter. "Um…if I tell you, will you promise not to tell anyone else?"

"No problem," Ash answered.

"Well, I've gotten really good at trying to copy my parent's signature and…," Ursula started, "I signed it myself and Rowan took it," she finished quickly.

Ash was a bit shocked, but he believed that if he was in the same scenario, he would have found some way to be able to go on the trip. He wouldn't do what Ursula did, but he would find some way. Dawn was even more shocked. She began walking away back to her friends. After a minute though, she became no longer surprised that Ursula would do what she did. Ursula was the type who would make sure she could get what she wanted and Dawn knew it.

"Hey Dawn, did you find him?" asked Zoey.

"I did, but he seemed like he wanted to be alone," Dawn replied.

The three spent the last few minutes in relative silence. Dawn was thinking to herself about what she had seen and finally, a smirk formed on her face. She knew she wanted to get back at Ursula for the bus scenario, and she now knew exactly how she could repay the favor.

* * *

The bus arrived back at the school about a half hour before it was time to go home. While most students were heading back to their respective classes, Dawn was heading to the principal's office. She overheard what Ursula had told Ash and she was going to snitch on her. Dawn knocked on the principal's door.

"Come in," the principal said from the other side.

"Hello, sir," Dawn said.

"Oh, hello Dawn. What can I do for you?" asked the principal.

"I feel bad about this, but I need to report something I overheard from another student while my class was on a field trip," Dawn explained.

"Oh? What would that be?" the principal questioned.

"It's about Ursula Urara," said Dawn.

"And what is the problem?" the principal asked, folding his hands in front of him. Dawn told the principal everything she had seen and heard.

"That's quite unfortunate indeed, but you did the right thing by reporting it. Such actions are not only disallowed here, but they are also a crime," the principal said. "Thank you for reporting this. I will remedy the issue."

* * *

Ursula was in her piano lesson listening to a lecture that intrigued her. The moment was interrupted upon the principal speaking over the intercom.

"Attention students. Sorry for the interruption, but would Ursula Urara please report to the principal's office immediately," the voice spoke.

Most of the class turned to look at Ursula as she slowly collected her things and went to the teacher's desk to get her homework assignment. She then went to the principal's office as commanded. She had spent about ten minutes in the principal's office learning that her secret to Ash was exposed and the principal found out about her offense.

She wasn't honest about what she did at first, but she eventually came clean and for her actions and she was given a five-day suspension. Luckily for her though, the principal didn't call the police.

The final bell rang at the same time as Ursula left the principal's office. She would still get the bus home, but her first day of suspension was tomorrow. She walked over to the bus as quickly as she could and took her seat so nobody could see that she was crying. Ash saw Ursula walking to the bus and he could tell that she was crying. Ash knew that she was called to the principal's office and after a few minutes, he figured out that somebody must have overheard their conversation and ratted her out. He knew he couldn't do anything, but he wanted to comfort her. He knew that she really just wanted to go on the field trip.

Upon entering the bus, Ash saw Ursula sitting in her usual seat in row eight on the right and sat on the left side in the same row. She stopped crying, wiped away a tear and looked at him, curiousity now setting her mood.

"Hi Ursula," Ash said.

* * *

**And done! Cliffhanger! Now, for those of you who don't remember what electrical build-up is, watch Pokemon episode 562, Doc Brock. The next chapter might be a bit shorter. I'm hoping that it isn't. I can't promise a quick update, but I do promise my story will get finished, so stay tuned!**

**Also, a reviewer said which pokemon they might do if they had to do the type of project Rowan assigned. I'd like to hear from other readers which pokemon they would do as well. Review or PM me your take. I have a poll on my profile I'd like you to answer if you're interested. That's all for now. Thanks for reading!**


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